A Simple Infection

I'll spare you the details, but on Saturday afternoon I suspected that I had a urinary tract infection. By Sunday it was worse, but I did my best to hold out until Monday to see my doctor (as opposed to going to the emergency room) even though it was very painful and I knew it wouldn't get better on its own. On Monday I woke up with pain throughout my abdomen. I was lucky to get an appointment for early afternoon. My doctor said I had a "mild kidney infection". That sounds worse than a UTI; I didn't care what it was called; I just wanted it to get better. He put me on Cipro and something else that he said would turn my urine orange. I'm not sure exactly what else it was supposed to do.

I took both pills mid-afternoon, just after I'd had the prescriptions filled. I was fine. I made a nice dinner, took a second "orange-pee" pill, ate with my sons, and read a novel while they watched the game. It was a nice family time. (And by the way, they played hockey on the porch, not in the house.) Suddenly I had the sensation that the entire inside of my body was on fire, and my mouth was tingling and swelling. I know from experience that this isn't good. The only thing I can compare the hot sensation to is how it feels to be injected with dye during a CAT scan. That feeling came and went; the weird mouth and throat thing didn't. My sons took me to the ER, and sure enough I was having a reaction to one or both of the medications. I never quite got to the point where my throat closed, but I was very uncomfortable.

Now, I know this will sound stupid, but I felt awful taking my kids away from their "boy time", especially because it involved the biggest football rivalry in their world, Cowboys vs. Redskins. They didn't care, and were only concerned that I would be okay. I am okay, although I can't take either of those meds again. The ER doctor put me on Bactrim, but I noticed today she gave me enough for only three days. I guess it's back to my doctor's office. (I'm waiting for his assistant to return my call about what I should do.) In the meantime, I've sent my sons out for grapes and sweet potato chips, the only foods that hold any appeal for me at the moment. And I have grading to do and have to go to work tomorrow, no excuses. It's finals day in two classes. After that, I can rest for a week if I want. And I think I want!